Beismeyer Overarm Guard vs. Sharkguard

[William M Johnson]

Need some quick help. I have a chance to buy a like new Beismeyer Overarm Guard for $200 (before negotiating) or a SharkGuard. I ordered the SharkGuard back at the first of January and it is still a couple (or more) weeks out.

I have a PM66 with no guards/splitters at all. Anybody have any opinions?

Bill

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Bill, I have an Excalibur guard and a Merlin splitter, which I believe is similar to the Biessemeyer guard.

I wouldn't purchase a Shark Guard because it cannot be used for non through cuts such as dado, rebates, grooves etc.

I use the Excalibur all the time, and it has good dust collection.

The Bies will also require some type of splitter on the saw, the type that are easiest to remove/install seem to be the type that remain in use. Anything difficult seems to be left on the bench.

Regards, Rod.

[Eric DeSilva]

I've got a Bies overarm guard on my saw, a Uni. I find it very easy to use and popping it up/out of the way for certain operations (e.g., crosscut sled) isn't a problem. Very solidly built. The guard leaves plenty of room for my stock uni splitter and is easy to see though... DC is good as well, although I think I need a more powerful shopvac.

[William M Johnson]

Lee at SharkGuard also sells the splitter separatly, and I am planning on sticking with it. Have you ever found that you need to dismount the guard. What about use with a power feeder?

[JayStPeter]

I replaced my Excalibur guard with a Shark. Much prefer it. Never used a power feeder.
The Shark goes on/off quick and has far superior DC with the "big gulp" (or whatever it's called) version. The main reason I replaced it was that the mount for the Excalibur was in the way for some other equipment that overlapped the workspace of the tablesaw. But, after all is said and done, I just like the Shark better anyway.

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have Biesemeyer guards on both of my PM 66s. The guard comes with a threaded rod in the cross bar to adjust the guard from side to side. It worked great if I was moving the guard a small amount, but was a pain if I wanted to move the guard a large distance. If I needed the guard & cross bar removed for an operation I would have to remove the complete guard. To solve this I removed the threaded rod in both guards. Now if I need the cross bar out of the way I just loosen the lock knob & slide the bar back or remove it from the base, leaving the base attached to the saw.

[William M Johnson]

Chris what do you use for a splitter?

[Chris Rosenberger]

I have Biesemeyer splitters on the saws.
I got them from Mike's Tools.